University of Minnesota Athletics
Jerry Kindall - M Club Hall of Fame
Jerry Kindall
Baseball, 1955-56
Men’s Basketball, 1955-56
Jerry Kindall hit 18 home runs in 1956 as he helped led the Gophers to their first College World Series crown. The shortstop earned All-Big Ten and All-America honors that year, too.
Kindall, who also lettered twice on the basketball team, played Major League Baseball for eight seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins.
He was a Gopher baseball and basketball assistant coach from 1967 to 1972, and then became head coach at the University of Arizona. He led the Wildcats to the 1976 College World Series title, adding crowns in 1980 and 1986 along with six conference titles.
Kindall was the first person to both play on a baseball National Championship team and coach one. He retired in 1996 as Arizona’s winningest coach ever, with 861 victories.
The three-time College Baseball Coach of the Year also served as head coach of the 1979 U.S. National Team, and was an assistant on the 1991 and 1999 teams. He is a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and the University of Arizona Hall of Fame.